Change
by doggodess04
Summary: When Sam's mom passes away, Freddie faces turmoil over the fact that his best friend is slowly slipping away.He tries to save her from the one thing that can tear them apart, change. One-shot


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AN: Okay, I just wanted to try something new. This story's pretty sad, not much like my other fluffly humor filled romance ones. I'm sorry if anyone's disappointed in my attempt in expanding my writing techniques. I'm definately a lot more nervous about this chapter, so reviews are much appreciated.

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Disclaimer: I don't own it.

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The first thing Freddie noticed when he came in was her eyes. Her eyes that had always been so full of life and mischief were now hollow. It scared him so much that he could hardly concentrate on the cause for her blank eyes. Carly's voice had sounded through his ears, but he could not listen.

He stood there, gaping at the pathetic figure that used to be Samantha Puckett and allowed Carly to push him out from the door. Afterwards, he stayed there, dumbstruck, until his mother managed to bring him inside and force him into bed.

That night he heard things being thrown around, and screams that were so heartbreaking that he couldn't sleep at all. His heart refused to acknowledge that his best friend- his _Sam _was shattering into a million pieces.

The next day, Carly came by again with instructions to watch over Sam while she and Spencer finalized the paperwork. He nodded dumbly and went over.

He carefully made his way across the debris that had been scattered on the floor as a result of the news, and picked his way to the couch.

He stood in front of her, trying to find her face that had been hidden underneath her piles of hair. Her small body heaved suddenly, and it was all that he could do to not put his arms around her.

He and Sam had always fought, but that did not mean that he wanted her to crumble before she had a chance to live. He wanted to be brave for her, to allow her to let him defend her but knew it wouldn't happen. She had too much pride for that to happen.

He sighed unhappily before kneeling down on the floor and sifting his hands through her hair. He found her face and placed a finger underneath her chin. He could feel the dampness of her skin, and he knew that she had spent most of the night crying.

Most children did when their mother's died.

Freddie pulled her face up to look at him, and he could feel himself break as well. Sam's eyes were red and puffy, face full of tear trails, her whole visage was dead.

Like her mother.

Her blank, hollow eyes that glistened with tears gazed into his some more and he was perplexed with his own emotions that had skyrocketed along with hers.

He could feel his own eyes beginning to water from just looking at Sam's empty shell, and he pulled her forward into him.

He couldn't help it. He pulled her into him, and pressed his face into her hair, trying to regain some sort of normality in his life again. Maybe, just maybe, if he did something out of the norm, she would retaliate with a punch, or an insult.

Maybe she would return to normal, tell him that it was all a joke, and that she was heading back to her mom's, even though it smelled like cat pee there.

Maybe then, his Sam would return to him, and maybe then he'd be able to keep her with him as well. He'd protect her better.

Sam's sobs erupted again, and she pressed her face into his shoulder hard. Her teeth were hard and blunt against his thin T shirt, and he could feel the raw emotion that came pouring out of the girl.

He grasped her tighter, wishing for a way to take away her pain.

Her sobs continued, her body kept shaking, and Freddie continued to struggle to save her from herself.

Freddie's mind didn't register the door opening. The only thing that came through to his brain was the loss of warmth, and the feeling of losing something precious.

He blinked, and found Sam enveloped in Carly's arms. Carly kept repeating soothing words into the distraught girl's ear, and kept rocking her back and forth on the couch.

Like a mother.

He stood up, and hesitated before making his way to the door.

"Freddie, wait." Spencer's voice stopped Freddie in his tracks.

He turned around and looked at Spencer in the face. The normally cheerful artist had lines of sorrow sewn into his face, and looked like he needed a good night's sleep.

Spencer motioned for Freddie to follow him to his room. He shut the door behind them and gestured for him to sit on the bed.

"I need you to try and treat Sam the same way as you have always treated her."

Freddie found himself nodding to Spencer's words.

"I know things are going to be different though, especially since Sam is now my daughter," Spencer's voice continued on.

"But I need you to promise me that nothing's going to change."

Freddie nodded, unable to form words, and left quickly.

This is what they had all been afraid of. Change; an abominable word, one that brought so much horror and sadness to them all. He made his way back to his room blindly and flung himself onto his bed. He tore off his covers and dove inside the warmth and safety of his bed. His eyes felt heavy, and he needed to shut them.

Perhaps he would be able to sleep this time.

Except he couldn't.

He tossed and turned and flung his covers off of himself before reaching down and pulling them over his shaking body again. He finally threw the covers off again, before heading out after a quick glance to the clock. He gathered a root beer, a soft blanket with a pillow, a chocolate cupcake, and ham sandwich before heading to the fire escape to think.

He made his way out of the door silently, making sure that his mother wouldn't wake up. He went into the empty hallway, and made walked around the corner when he saw her.

Her hair glowed from the lights above, and she sat so still, he could've mistaken her for a statue. He body was no longer heaving, meaning that there was a chance that she had stopped crying. The Seattle breeze was a bit cool that night, and she didn't have a jacket or anything. She just sat there in her thin pajamas.

He made his way to her carefully, stopping at the window. If she gave any indication of not wanting him to be there, he wanted to disappear smoothly. He rapped his knuckles on the window.

Her head flew around, surprise masking her features. Her eyes were still watery, and there were still faint tear marks on her face. She looked at him before turning around.

"Hi." Her voice floated back to him through the soft breeze.

"Hi."

Silence ensued. She finally turned around to speak to him again, no doubt to tell him to go away, when he pulled the cupcake out from behind his back.

"Cupcake," he asked.

She looked at him as though he were crazy. He thought he was crazy himself at the moment.

She nodded and he tossed it to her, fully expecting her to catch it. She didn't disappoint, and he used the distraction of the muffin to bring himself onto the fire escape along with his things.

He sat down next to her, and silence ensued, save for the chewing and swallowing of the cupcake.

A particularly strong breeze came about them and Freddie wrapped the blanket around them.

No words were spoken, but somehow, the silence spoke it all.

Her silence said _I'm trying to get my life back to normal. I really am. _

His replied with _I'm here for you. Don't you ever forget that._

Freddie popped open the root beer, and took a deep drink of it. He passed it to Sam without looking at her, and wrapped his arms around his legs.

He heard the soft _thud_ the can made upon coming into contact with the ground and felt Sam's head on his shoulder once again.

He smiled nervously and tried to follow Spencer's request to try to treat her the same.

"Yo…You know, th-that's the second t-time today you-youv'e put your he-head on my shoulder. People might start talking about us and ruin you-your bad girl im-image."

It may have worked if he hadn't stuttered through the entire thing. He could feel no difference from Sam in her posture, and closed his eyes.

He always had a knack for saying the wrong things.

Sam pushed her head into his should a bit farther, and she rested there for a moment.

He opened his mouth to apologize, when her voice rang out through the silence.

"Did I ever tell you about the time my mom and I………?

And she went on telling him about every single of the adventures she and her late mother embarked on. She described the time when she was 6 and was dressed up like ham for Halloween, and how her mother showed her how to make the best cute faces to get the most amount of candy.

She told him about the time she went with her mom to see a few kittens, and then how the owner refused to give one to her mom because of her mom's credentials.

She told him about the time her father wanted custody of her, and how her mom spent entire nights crying at the thought of losing her daughter. She told him how her mom took her out to celebrate the night the judge ruled her father incompetent to take care of her. That had been the night she got a tattoo of a foot on her foot, because Sam had expressed interest in seeing how one got a tattoo.

She also told him about the dark stuff. Like when her mother grew attached to drugs, and tried to sell her for a couple pounds. The day the deal had nearly gone through, the cops had busted the drug dealers, and her mother realized her mistake. She cried for a month straight.

Freddie's arms went around Sam as she went on through her stories. It wasn't like she was even talking to him anymore. It was as though she was trying to exorcise her demons, trying to take away the pain that came along with her mother's loss.

"And then that time when….." Sam suddenly stopped, and threw herself into Freddie's arms. Her fragile arms had no strength left in them, but she kept trying to pull him closer. He pulled her to him tighter, her sobs erupting once again. But this time they were quiet ones.

Freddie's chest started to ache, and he looked down to see furious tears running down Sam's face as she pounded his chest. He let his arms fall down from around her, and took the beating.

"Why....she didn't have to…..if only I'd……." Sam's words were pained. She couldn't bring herself to admit it aloud, and she kept on with her pounding of Freddie's chest.

"Why did she have to die!" with a loud sob, she fell into Freddie's chest once more and his arms automatically went around her.

He lay back down, urging her to fall on his chest, and stroked her hair as she continued to cry.

Eventually her sobs stopped, and her breathing evened out, and she fell asleep on him.

He kept on stroking her hair, mind wandering, when he heard Carly's quiet voice from the window.

"Take care of her right now. She needs you as much as me. Maybe even more."

Freddie turned his head around to look at her, when he realized that she had left.

He returned his gaze to Sam, looking down at her exhausted face.

He would. He would take care of her, no matter what. Even if she didn't want him to, he wouldn't abandon her. He would never let anything between the two of them change.

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AN: There it is.... I also don't have a Beta, so is anyone interested???

On another, lighter note, the next chapter of Alphabets is coming out soon. Maybe on Sunday or a few days after. It'll definately be a lot happier, and not so....sad.....That ones gonna be amazing, because I've decided that you guys deserve an amazing chappter, so it'll be atleast 3,000 words.

Reviews much appreciated, and also one more thing. Do you guys like it when I reply to reviews? Still a bit new at this entire stuff.....lol


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